Tuesday, September 27, 2011

One of my larger works that will be in my show at the Randy Higbee Gallery this Saturday October 1st 2011, (See previous posts for more info). And a nice contrast to the harder edged works I do.

We like to give human characteristics to inanimate objects and the sea is no exception. Here I experimented with a soft edged focus to play against the somewhat angry wave violently slamming down like a child throwing a temper tantrum.129

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Here is the painting from the postcard announcement for my show at the Randy Higbee Gallery next Saturday, October 1st 2011. See previous posts for more info.

Two elements of our coastal landscapes and a common motif in my work. The mix of industry and nature. Not beautiful to some but in scenes like these I see themes that go beyond the mere industrial or nature images alone. Themes in the tradition of Homer and Hopper.

Man and Nature side by side. Industry has to be placed somewhere so it's impossible to ignore. Since we like to live in beautiful areas we end up with power plants like this one becoming part of the landscape.

Here the setting sun and the marine layer provide a dramatic backdrop to both the power plant and the wetlands of Huntington Beach.128

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

A study for my Vincent Thomas Bridge series and included in the upcoming show. See previous post.

A few months back I began to ponder this series, especially regarding the show, and how it would present itself.
The challenge I found myself faced with was the color of the bridge itself. If I wasn't careful I would end up with a bunch 'chrome green' paintings... and green is a tough color, too much and your'e sunk. My Dad used to say "There is no such thing as a bad color... only a bad application of it."

Who would buy paintings with lots of green? Kermit the Frog. Shrek. The Incredible Hulk. They're not real so that leaves... Ed Begley Jr.?

The green of the bridge itself is spectacular in real life, the iridescent light reflecting paint, shimmering even on overcast days. But the moment it becomes a painting it's a different set of problems. Artistic decisions must be made. You can't merely copy real life.

I decided I had better use atmospheric conditions and time of day, light and shadow to control the green of the bridge within the paintings. This allowed me to modify the palette. Darken it by throwing it in shadow, lighten it with bright sunlight, increase the saturation, decrease the saturation or step on it (as Stapleton advises), use very little of it by featuring more of the surroundings, or eliminate the green altogether. All of which I've done in various paintings for the show.

This study shows the bridge in the afternoon under full sunlight, giving it more of a lime color. Lime green could easily overwhelm too, but used sparingly (as Dad would do) it pops, its bold, like it or not it's unexpected.
For a study I was free to throw down color. Here I put the more saturated color in the top half of the composition, the blue sky and the bridge, while the lower portion is deeper and richer in color and tone, chocolate brown and forest green, which helps anchor and keep the saturated colors under control.
To better integrate the bridge into its environment I allowed the warmer tones to spill into the background.127

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Here is the postcard announcement for the show at Randy Higbee Gallery. More info on this show here and here.
All above paintings are new and were painted for this show so this is the first preview of what the show will look like.

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About My Blog

Thank you for visiting my blog. Before I started this I very carefully considered the purpose and intent of a blog. Unlike a website it gets updated more frequently, contains more text, and may contain other info or updates not seen on a website.

As others have done, I decided it would be more like a book or journal. Here is the place for my insights on art, my work, and specific images. Something that I miss on some blogs. I'm always very interested in how other artists think, how they arrived at their images, their own uniqueness... different than my own.

When I want to just see images I visit their website, when I want to know more, I visit their blog. I see no reason to have both the same.

With that in mind I designed my blog to be as simple as possible so as not to detract from the art or writing. And although it will be constantly evolving I will try not lose sight of that.

Using the book model, I choose a blog title (book title) and use post titles (chapter titles) different than the titles of the images. Why be redundant? That info is available directly under the image.

Sometimes image titles in series are long or all have similar names, making blog archive searches for a specific image harder to remember and find. So a couple of words taken from or relating to the writing for that post title will make it easier to remember for some, since the writing and image are tied to each other as well as serve as an alternate title, which I don't mind.

About My Work

My artwork generally falls into one of five genre's; Industrial, Seascape, Cityscape, Landscape and Figure. These five genre's very often are a vehicle for representing some other idea, impression or statement. Which means the image may be a cityscape for example, but beneath the surface lies something more. I hope you take the time to examine my work on this basis... looking for the real content... because I know for me, that is where the real joy begins.